The definitive answer for who should pay on a first date

Ah, paying for a first date. That oft-confusing time when you
don't really know each other well enough to know exactly what to
do.

But there is a way to deftly navigate that perilous situation
without making yourself — or them — look like a fool.

It starts, before you even leave for the date, with your
expectations. Men should expect to pay for the whole
thing, while women should expect to pay for their half
of the bill.

Men, when you offer to pay — yes, you're going to offer to
pay, at least at first — don't make a big show of it. The humbler
the better. Quietly slip your card into the bill presenter and
say nothing else about it.

The woman should then pull out her wallet when she notices
what the man has done. The man should shrug off her
insistence on paying half the first time. If she asks if you're
sure, the man should reply that yes, he is indeed.

However, if she insists firmly on paying half a second
time, the man should not fight over it with her — he should
allow her to split the check evenly with
him. Fighting over the check is not great in any situation, but
it's especially not a great look for a first date.

After all, the old "man always pays" culture is a leftover
relic from a century when it was assumed women didn't make
their own money and couldn't pay. Thankfully, that's no longer
the case.

Now, the most important thing here is to differentiate between
the two different kinds of insistence: the polite "are you sure?"
kind and the much more insistent "I really want to pay half"
kind. This can be tricky when you don't know the person that
well, but a savvy man should be able to tell.

Take neither of these as a sign that she either
likes or dislikes you.

Same-gender dates are much simpler, as they don't come with
archaic gender-prescribed rules — just split it down the middle
unless you come to another kind of agreement.